Air Fryer Crab Cakes (From Fresh or Frozen)

Air fryer crab cakes are so delicious, EASY, and healthy. This version uses pork rinds instead of bread crumbs for the crust, resulting in a crispy outside and tender inside. Oh YUM.

These healthy air fried crab cakes are gluten-free, low carb, and keto-friendly. The best part? They can be cooked from fresh or frozen! Make these ahead and freeze for later - just cook the frozen crab cakes in air fryer when you're ready! 🙂

Jump to:

• 🎥 Recipe Video
• ❤️ Crab Cakes Air Fryer
• 🥗 How To Serve
• 🥘 Ingredients and Tools
• 📖 Variations
• 🦀 How To Air Fry Crab Cakes
• 💭 Cooking Tips
• ❓ Common Questions
• ✔️ Related Recipes
• ⭐ Stay Connected
• 📋 Printable Recipe

🎥 Recipe Video

❤️ Crab Cakes Air Fryer

"My favorite crab cake recipe! Being from the Pacific Northwest, crab was abundant, and my Grandmother used to fry us up some delicious crab cakes when we were at her house. I came up with this easy and less messy variation cooked in an air fryer! I wonder what Grandma would say about that?" -Kori 🙂

Super Easy and Quick

Only 10 ingredients and less than 15 minutes in your air fryer and you'll be enjoying these air fried crab cakes.

Cooking is as simple as coating the wings with the dry rub then adding to the basket and then spraying with olive oil spray. After cooking, toss with picante sauce and serve.

No Mess No Oil Frying

Making crab cakes in airfryer is a breeze - they are simple to make and easy to clean up.

The beauty of cooking in your air fryer is that cooking is a lot less messy than traditional frying. There's no oil to add or store after cooking. Most air fryers, have non-stick baskets, so cleanup is a breeze.

Make Ahead and Freezable

These air fried crab cakes can be made ahead of time then frozen for later. You can then cook the frozen crab cakes in your air fryer when you are ready! Instruction for cooking frozen crab cakes in air fryer are below.

Low Carb Keto Crab Cakes

This recipe is uses crushed pork rinds instead of breadcrumbs making these very low carb - only 1.4 grams carbs! These crab cakes are gluten-free, sugar-free, low carb, and keto. Ta-da! Healthy low carb keto crab cakes that are so good no one will even realize they're eating something healthy. 🙂

If you want to add more healthy fat to your crab cake meal I highly recommend making creamy dill dressing as a sauce for dipping your crab cakes in.

for one crab cake: calories 292, 1.4 g net carbs, 13.2 g fat, and 39.1 g protein

Interested in keto? Get my FREE keto food guide and grocery shopping list. It's a great quick glance guide you can print off for your fridge or save the pdf on your phone for when you are out and about!

🥗 How To Serve

Here are a few delicious ideas of what to serve with your crab cakes:

• Make Creamy Dill Dressing as a dipping sauce for your crab cakes and as a salad dressing for a side salad. Also tastes great with our homemade Thousand Island Dressing.
• One of my favorite side dish casseroles is Zucchini Casserole with Cheese - it goes perfect with crab cakes.
• Here is a super simple green bean side dish that I make often - Crockpot Green Beans and Ham (Low Carb Keto)
• Crab cakes can be served as an appetizer or starter. You can make smaller appetizer-sized crab cakes by adjusting the cooking time down slightly. Don't forget the dill sauce for dipping, see above note.

🥘 Ingredients and Tools

Here's what you'll need to make crab cakes in an air fryer:

Ingredients

• Crab Meat - buy the fresh crab meat that has been pasteurized. You can use any kind - small bits or lump crab meat. Do not use imitation crab meat.
• Parmesan Cheese - Use the finely grated parmesan cheese.
• Mayonnaise - I used avocado oil mayonnaise but any favorite mayo will do.
• Egg -the binding ingredient in this recipe
• Fresh Chives - I used fresh in this recipe but you could substitute dried. You can also use finely chopped green onion. Rule of thumb for herbs: 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs = 1 teaspoon dried
• Fresh Dill - fresh dill has a slightly better flavor than dried, but you can substitute dried dill.
• Old Bay Seasoning - this is a classic seasoning that give these crab cakes that perfect seasoning I remember my Grandma using when we were growing up.
• Kosher Salt or Sea Salt
• Ground Black Pepper
• Original Flavored Pork Rinds - I wanted a little more texture in this recipe so I used regular pork rinds and crushed them in a plastic bag. This gave me a variety of larger pieces and finely crushed - making the perfect crab cake crust! Feel free to use seasoned panko bread crumbs if you are not following a low carb plan, or you can use pork panko.
• Olive Oil Cooking Spray - I use a good quality 100% extra virgin olive oil spray to coat the carb cakes evenly - it works like a charm! If you don't have spray, you can drizzle olive oil over the top.
• Optional - lemon wedges and Creamy Dill Dressing for dipping crab cakes

Tools

• Air Fryer - I've been using a Ninja Foodi for air frying, slow cooking, and pressure cooking so I could pair down to one appliance! 🙂 These air fryer crab cakes turned out tender on the inside and crispy outside.
• Measuring spoons
• Mixing spoon
• Medium Sized Mixing Bowl
• Plastic bag - for crushing your pork rinds.

📖 Variations

Here are some different ways you can make substitutions or customize your air fryer crab cakes:

• Substitute pork panko or panko bread crumbs. If you don't want to crush your own rinds feel free to use pork panko. If you are not following a low-carb keto diet, then you can also use seasoned panko bread crumbs. I think the best taste comes from crushing your own pork rinds, however. So, if you've never tried it, I highly recommend it regardless of what diet your might be following. 🙂
• Try substituting a different kind of finely grated cheese. The key is that the cheese has to be very finely ground.
• Add up to 2 tablespoons of finely chopped red bell pepper.
• Want a little more spice? You can add a few drops of hot sauce.
• Add 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard or lemon juice for a little more tang. Whether I add this, depends on the brand of mayonnaise you use. Some mayo is tangy so you don't need to add mustard or lemon juice. (I used Better Foods Avocado Oil Mayonnaise).
• Experiment with other salted seasoning blends if you don't like Old Bay Seasoning.
• Swap out different herbs. The dill is a key flavor in this recipe, so I don't recommend replacing it unless you don't like to dill it at all. Parsley makes a great substitute for chives if you prefer.

🦀 How To Air Fry Crab Cakes

Here's how to make crab cakes in your air fryer...so easy! 🙂

Crush The Pork Rinds

Preheat your air fryer to 360 degrees F for 5 minutes.

Place 2 ounces of pork rinds in a plastic bag and crush using the back side of a bowl or a rolling pin, until they are crushed.

You can finely crush or you can leave some larger bits and pieces mixed in - which is my favorite way. You'll love the crunch they give to the crab cakes!

Place pork rinds in a bowl.

Make the Crab Cake Mixture

In a medium sized bowl mix the crab meat, parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, egg, chives, dill, Old Bay seasoning, salt, and pepper.

Divide mixture into fourths and firmly press together forming 4 patties that are approximately 1" thick.

Coat with Pork Rind

Press each crab cake into the bowl of pork rinds. Remove and then press the coating firmly into the crab cake. Repeat with the seond side.

Air Fry Crab Cakes

Place the crab cakes in the air fryer basket and spritz with olive oil cooking spray.

Air fry 5 minutes, turn crab cakes over and spritz the other side with olive oil spray. Continue cooking an additional 5 minutes, or until golden brown and heated through.

💭 Cooking Tips

• Add 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard or lemon juice for a little more tang. Whether I add this, depends on the brand of mayonnaise you use. Some mayo is tangy so you don't need to add mustard or lemon juice. (I used Better Foods Avocado Oil Mayonnaise).
• Firmly press crab cakes together - this will help prevent them from falling apart.
• Press the pork rind coating into the crab cakes to help it stay on better.
• By using an olive oil cooking spray instead of drizzling the olive oil you can get a much more ven coating and crispiness on your wings. Make sure to use a good quality 100% olive spray.
• Each air fryer is a little different so adjust your cooking times as needed.

❓ Common Questions

Can I make this recipe ahead of time?

Yes! Definitely. You can make these crab cakes ahead of time. From there you can reheat in your air fryer or cook the frozen crab cakes in the air fryer when you are ready.

How do I reheat crab cakes in air fryer?

Yes, crab cakes can easily be reheated in your air fryer—Preheat the air fryer to 350 degrees. Place crab cakes in the basket and cook until heated through - about 4 to 5 minutes.

Can you cook crab cakes in air fryer?

Yes, you can air fry crab cakes! 🙂 Here's how:

• Preheat the air fryer to 360 degrees and place the crab cakes in air fryer.
• Cook for 5 to 6 minutes per side. Flip crab cakes once, and for a crispier crust spritz with 100% olive oil spray after you flip them.
• Crab cakes are done when they are golden brown.

Note: each air fryer is a little different so adjust your cooking times as needed.

Can You Air Fry Frozen Crab Cakes?

Yes! Here's how to cook frozen crab cakes in air fryer:

• Preheat the air fryer to 350 degrees and place the frozen crab cakes in air fryer.
• Cook approximately 10 to 15 minutes until warmed through, flipping the crab cakes halfway through.
• Note that each recipe, air fryer, and size of crab cakes vary and may alter the cooking time. Adjust time and temperature accordingly.

Is crab meat OK on keto?

Absolutely, crab meat is fine on keto. 3 ounces of crab contains 0 carbs, 1 gram fat, 15 grams protein, and only 71 calories.

For more information of what foods are OK on keto please check my FREE downloadable and printable Keto Food List and Grocery Shopping List.

How many net carbs are in crab cakes?

There are 1.4 grams of net carbs in this crab cake recipe. Other recipes may be different as many contain bread crumbs which will greatly increase the carb count.

✔️ Related Recipes

Here are some of my reader's top favorite air fryer recipes. They are all low carb, gluten-free, sugar-free, and ketogenic. Enjoy! 🙂

• Air Fryer Fajita Spiced Chicken Wings
• Keto Chicken Tenders (Air Fryer + Oven)
• Parmesan Crusted Air Fryer Tilapia

⭐ Stay Connected

If you tried these Air Fryer Crab Cakes, I'd love for you to come back and give them a star rating and/or a review in the comments. Let's stay connected, so please share photos of your creations with me & others on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest! 🙂

Super simple and tasty air fryer crab cakes! They are healthy crab cakes that are gluten free, low carb, and keto friendly. This crab cakes recipe makes an easy dinner idea for busy weeknights. Can also be made ahead and frozen for later - just cook frozen crab cakes in air fryer! 🙂